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Speaker 1: Govenment's gone shopping for some new planes and choppers two

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Speaker 1: point seven billion dollars. It'll set us back. Our old

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Speaker 1: seven five seven is going to be replaced by two

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Speaker 1: new Airbus planes A three twenty one's, and we're buying

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Speaker 1: five new Seahawk helicopters equipped with anti submarine torpedo systems

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Speaker 1: with Judith Collins loves to talk about Joshua Needa is

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Speaker 1: a retired lieutenant colonel and security expert with me this morning.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, Good morning Ryan.

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Speaker 1: What the choppers, the Seahawk helicopters, what exactly do we

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Speaker 1: use some for? Will we use them for?

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Speaker 2: Well, they will be part of the capability initially for

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Speaker 2: the frigates we have, and I guess the next platform

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Speaker 2: that the Defense Force buis. But essentially they are a

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Speaker 2: submarine hunting aircraft, but they also can do a number

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Speaker 2: of other tasks, and I think in the Pacific most

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Speaker 2: of the use for our aircraft and the Pacific search

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Speaker 2: and rescue and also humanitarian assistance, disaster relief. But essentially

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Speaker 2: they are a military combat.

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Speaker 1: Aircraft and so they go hunt submarine and then they

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Speaker 1: can fire at them too.

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Speaker 2: Yes, well, I mean that's part of the armed Forces

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Speaker 2: REMIT is actually having offensive and defensive capabilities.

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Speaker 1: So yes, do the submarines know where they are and

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Speaker 1: can they fire at them?

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Speaker 2: That's probably a question for sub mariners, but I mean

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Speaker 2: it is a cat and mouse game. I mean, you've

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Speaker 2: got aircraft, they're above the water. They do have a

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Speaker 2: number of sonar capabilities which they can dip into the water.

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Speaker 2: Of course, most submarines would rather remain stealthy and not

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Speaker 2: be found.

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Speaker 1: A lot of people yesterday were asking why aren't we

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Speaker 1: buying drones that humanitarian aspect of it, you know, the

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Speaker 1: fact that we need to accommodate for that as well.

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Speaker 1: Would that be a reason why.

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Speaker 2: Well, if we look at the Defense Capability Plan that

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Speaker 2: is yet to come, there are drones which are assigned

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Speaker 2: for the Air Force in the coming iteration of the

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Speaker 2: Defense Capability Plan. What I would hope to see though,

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Speaker 2: is that aircraft these days are starting to be teams,

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Speaker 2: which means they fly alongside or with other unmanned systems.

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Speaker 2: So that should be something that we see in the future.

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Speaker 1: How important is it that we are now better aligned

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Speaker 1: with the aussi's and other forces, But.

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Speaker 2: This is critical. Australia is our only ally, and I

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Speaker 2: have to say this is you. This amount of money

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Speaker 2: represents nearly one quarter of the twelve billion dollars that

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Speaker 2: was announced earlier this year. So this is a significant

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Speaker 2: amount of money for a significant investment important to be

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Speaker 2: interoperable with Australia. They have these particular helicopters, as do

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Speaker 2: the US and other allies. But I think that buying

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Speaker 2: our own equipment for our own purposes has to be

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Speaker 2: the central point here. If it aligns with other countries,

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Speaker 2: that's great.

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Speaker 1: What about the US foreign military sales program rather than

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Speaker 1: going to a wider attender we're jumping on that list?

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Speaker 1: Is that significant.

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Speaker 2: Those who put together I think the user requirements would

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Speaker 2: have taken that into consideration. Because it is the US

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Speaker 2: system where we have to go through a foreign military

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Speaker 2: sales process. It's the same for everyone the Australias go

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Speaker 2: through this in any other country. So there will be

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Speaker 2: a time period before we actually acquire them. What will

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Speaker 2: be important is the systems that we have here. We

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Speaker 2: have now the old sea sprites, that they are maintained

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Speaker 2: and can still be operated.

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Speaker 1: Josh, appreciate your time this morning. Thanks for coming on

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Speaker 1: the show. That's josh Unedda. He's a retired lieutenant colonel

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Speaker 1: and security expert.

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Speaker 2: For more from earlier edition with Ryan Bridge, Listen live

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Speaker 2: to News Talks at Being from five am weekdays, or

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